


My Sense of Fear is Running Thin

by orphan_account



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Character Death, I’m adding characters as I go, Multi, Past Character Death, Some past deaths are ignored for the sake of the story!!, Video Game Mechanics, adding tags as i go!, because it’s warriors what did you expect, like they’re there I don’t know what to call them, this is warriors!! what were you expecting!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The lakeside Clans and the Dark Forest have battled it out- and the Dark Forest has won. As celebration for their victory, the Dark Forest decides to create a world that is just as cold and brutal as the one they came from- a game where only the fittest survive.Now, people from all Clans have to play a game where the prize is freedom...And the penalty is death.[ON HIATUS]
Relationships: Brambleclaw & Ivypool (Warriors), Dovewing & Jayfeather (Warriors), Squirrelflight & Tigerheart (Warriors)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 18





	1. Rules of the Game

**Author's Note:**

> I’m writing and posting this as I go to have something to focus on other than staying home and doing nothing, so... uh, this is probably gonna go ways I don’t even expect. 
> 
> Other than that: this was heavily inspired by a lot of things, actually, but I mostly just made this up myself! It takes place in a human AU, but with cat things involved? I dunno, it’ll probably be easier to understand if you read it.
> 
> With that out of the way, let’s go!  
> (Chapter one is the rules, chapter two is a prologue of sorts!)

RULES OF THE GAME

  1. There are two types of players: Hunters and Prey. 
  2. You cannot change your player type unless allowed by a Moderator. 
  3. Hunters are all in one team. Therefore, Hunters cannot hurt other Hunters. 
  4. Prey are divided into groups: Light and Dark. They are worth a different amount of points based on their player subtype. 
  5. The game is divided into Countdowns. Hunters’ ranks are established at the end of each Countdown. Countdowns are as long as Moderators allow. 
  6. Prey cannot leave the sector they are in until the end of the Countdown. They are only allowed to switch sectors once during the Cooldown period. 
  7. Hunters who rise up in the rankings will be given perks. Different perks are given per rank. If the Hunter goes down a rank, they are allowed to keep the perk. 
  8. The only ways to gain points from Prey are to immobilize or kill. Killing is generally worth more than immobilizing. 
  9. If a rule is broken, the Moderators of a sector will come and correct the player. 
  10. New rules may be added at the Moderators’ will. 




	2. 0-0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prologue- Tigerstar walks in the newly-won ThunderClan territory and thinks about what’s to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna post sporadically because I sometimes have motivation and sometimes don’t so... have fun I guess? Lol

0-0

A Talk In The Forest

Rain pelted the forest. Dark clouds covered the once blue sky, leaving no trace of stars on what would’ve been an otherwise beautiful night. The trees were creaking in the harsh wind, leaves falling and being left to rot. Tree bark looked more like coal than actual bark, at some parts falling off and exposing chewed up wood. Streams that had trickled through the oak forest were now raging torrents, capable of destroying everything in their path. 

This was what was left of ThunderClan’s forest. 

On a dark night like this, one would think it’d take a brain the size of a squirrel’s to want to walk outside. Yet someone was walking outside, and it would be a disservice to say their brain was the size of a squirrel’s. Another was following them, listening to whatever they had walked out to talk about. 

“Isn’t it beautiful, Darkstripe? The forest is so fragile, succumbing to a simple change in leadership.” A tall man wearing a dark brown, striped coat said. His boots, fitted with metal spikes, clawed into the mud that passed for the forest floor. 

The other man, wearing a hooded black jacket, nodded quickly. “Yes, it’s very beautiful, Tigerstar. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

The taller man, Tigerstar, stared off into the distance, as if he was pondering something. “Though I don’t think  _ beautiful  _ is quite the right word. Maybe it’s amusing? How the Clans worked so hard to defend something so worthless?”

“Yes, yes, it’s amusing!” Darkstripe agreed. “I can’t help but laugh!” He let out a small laugh. Tigerstar grimaced. Darkstripe always tried so hard to please him, and in the end it just felt hollow. The smaller man seemed to notice Tigerstar’s thoughts, and quickly stopped laughing. “Of course, it’s our forest now, and, uh, not that I don’t think your judgement is supreme, Tigerstar, but-“

“But what?” Tigerstar had been hoping to get this reaction. A Clanmate’s loyalty was always put to the test if your showed how displeased you were. 

“It’s just that- well, this forest doesn’t seem very… lively? It wouldn’t make a very good home for our Clanmates, considering the other Clans are still out there-“

Tigerstar gripped Darkstripe’s hood. “There are no Clans but  _ ours.  _ We will make sure of that, won’t we?”

Darkstripe nodded frantically. “We will, we will!”

He dropped the smaller man, leaving him staring frightened on the ground.  _ So pitiful.  _ “Go fetch Mapleshade. I need to talk with her.”

Darkstripe quickly stood up and looked around. “Of course, Tigerstar! Where- uh, where is she?”

“She’s out somewhere in the old RiverClan territory. Go find her and bring her here. The game is close to its beginning, and we need to finalize some things. Go.” Tigerstar waved him away and watched as his subordinate rushed off in RiverClan’s general direction. 

So he was still loyal. That was nice to know. Many of Tigerstar’s followers would shy away at the thought of having to get Mapleshade from whatever she was going- but he made sure to put them in their place. The new world wasn’t one for the weak, after all. 

Tigerstar stood and listened to the rain pounding on the forest.  _ So peaceful without any pesky Clan traitors around…  _ A bird chattered, trying to find shelter. Tigerstar grinned and leapt up, using his cat-like claws- courtesy of Breezepelt, another loyal follower- to take the bird down. 

_ This is my territory, little friend.  _ The man dropped it in one of the roaring streams, watching the water look like blood for a second then get washed away. Maybe the blood would get all the way to RiverClan territory. Or it could drain out in the lake. 

_ There’s one thing that’s for certain,  _ Tigerstar thought.  _ The lake will be filled with the blood of traitors by the time I’m done.  _


	3. 0-1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Firestar wakes up in a strange place, and the game begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last of the written chapters! Might be a while before I post again, we’ll see, but I’m having a lot of fun with this story!

0-1

Game: Start!

The first thing Firestar saw when he opened his eyes was a white ceiling. 

A white ceiling that most certainly wasn’t ThinderClan territory. ThunderClan’s houses were made of wood- and that meant the ceilings were a woodsy brown. As far as Firestar was concerned, trees didn’t just come in pure, glowing white. 

That was another thing. 

The ceiling was… glowing?

_ What? _

He tried to sit up, but, for some reason, his arms were stuck to whatever he’d been lying on for StarClan knows how long. It felt cold, like metal. Firestar had grown quite accustomed to not using metal in his daily life after he’d joined the Clans. It wasn’t natural, and the Clans had an all natural type of life. So, being in a place that reeked of metal after so long was pretty jarring. 

_ How did I even get here? _

Firestar looked down and saw metal bands across his wrists, ankles, and a big one across his chest. He was thankful there wasn’t one over his neck, because if there was anything he didn’t want, it was to be choked to death. He tugged at one of the bands experimentally, and wasn’t surprised when it didn’t give way.  _ If wherever I am is so intent on keeping me here that they’d restrain me, the restraints would obviously be good.  _

Firestar sighed and turned his head around, scanning his surroundings. The room he was trapped in was, as far as he could tell, a square. The floor, walls and ceiling were glowing and pure white, which was hurting the ThunderClan leader’s eyes. There was no door. 

_ How do I escape and get back to- _

“Oh StarClan, I forgot about the battle!” Firestar shouted, completely forgetting how to talk in his own head. How could he have forgotten?! The Clans has been fighting for their lives against people who Firestar  _ knew  _ were already dead. They’d come from the Dark Forest, a place so devoid of StarClan’s light that the trees had to kill each other just to grow. 

Firestar had been fighting with Tigerstar. The malicious former ShadowClan leader had showed no mercy, threatening to take his final life as revenge for what had been done to him before. The man had had technology he shouldn’t have had- Firestar saw WindClan claws, something only their warriors built. A traitor had probably given them to him. 

Traitors were a common theme nowadays. 

Tigerstar had used the claws to slash him again and again- and yet, Firestar could feel a single wound. He was still wearing his leader coat, which might’ve covered some scratches, but other than that, he felt perfectly fine. 

Not at all like he had when Tigerstar had knocked him unconscious. 

_ Great StarClan, that’s what happened!  _ Firestar felt his body go cold. He’d been knocked out and kidnapped. He’d been held here long enough for his wounds to heal completely, if there were no healers to help with the process. Even if there had been a healer, though, the slashes were deep. They wouldn’t heal so easily. And if that was the case, he’d been here for a long, long time. 

_ What’s happened to the Clans?! _

“Hey! Someone! Help!” Firestar shouted, desperate to get someone to hear him.  _ If I’ve been out for as long as it would take for my wounds to heal completely, then-  _ “Anybody! Can you hear me?!”

A loud  _ whoosh  _ filled Firestar’s ears. 

He looked toward the sound and found that one of the walls had opened, sliding up and into someplace Firestar couldn’t see. Two people walked into the room. The ThunderClan leader saw one leader coat and one warrior jacket. 

In an instant, Firestar’s blood ran cold. He recognized these people. 

Brokenstar of ShadowClan, and Breezepelt of WindClan. 

“Well, well, our little leader has finally woken up! Took you a while.” Brokenstar said in a mocking voice. Firestar had to suppress the urge to run away- it was useless in his situation. 

“The big, strong outsider isn’t so strong after all.” Breezepelt added. “You should’ve just stayed out of Clan life. Then, maybe, this whole thing wouldn’t have happened.”

_ You’re wrong.  _ Firestar thought.  _ Evil would have always been there. I just came to help.  _

Brokenstar walked forward and stared directly into Firestar’s eyes. “I hope you’re prepared for what’s about to happen,” the man stopped to smile manacingly, “because we sure are.”

Breezepelt grinned. “Very prepared.” He flashed his specialty-made WindClan claws. Firestar felt a growl form in his chest.  _ Only true warriors should have those. You’re a traitor! _

“What’s going to happen?” Firestar asked, his face not letting any fear show.  _ You’re a leader. Don’t show any fear- it’s what they want.  _

“Something we’ve been planning for moons!” Breezepelt laughed, crossing his arms. “Don’t worry! We won’t let you miss the show.”

Brokenstar traced a finger along one of the restraining bands. “Yes, we wouldn’t let you miss out on the fun. In fact, you’re going to have a front-row seat.”

Once again, Firestar felt his blood run cold. “W-what does that mean?”

“It means, we’re going to show you Clan traitors a truly exhilarating life! You should be thrilled!” Brokenstar waved his arms in the air as if showing off some grand project. Breezepelt paced back and forth, giving off an air of  _ let’s start already.  _ Brokenstar put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t forget your role, either, Breezepelt. You’re just as important as our special guest here.”

The small warrior snarled. “I’m more important. This outsider’s only here to make things interesting for the audience.”

Brokenstar smiled. “If you say so. Now, without further ado… Breezepelt, why don’t you run along and fetch the papers we’ve created for the convenience of our player here? It would be cruel to let him start without the rules.”

_ Player? Rules? What’s going on? _ Thoughts flew around in Firestar’s head. He tugged harder at the restraints, but they were as strong as ever. Brokenstar noticed and gave him a pitying look. “What? Trying to forfeit the game when it hasn’t even started? And when we’ve worked so hard to make it fun for everyone? Really, you Clan traitors have no manners.”

“I don’t even know what you’re forcing me to  _ do _ ,” Firestar shot back, “and I won’t do it, even if you tell me to a thousand times. On StarClan.”

“On StarClan? You’re still hung up on all your dead friends?” Brokenstar said. 

Firestar grimaced. “They’re infinitely more powerful than you. They’ll come and help me-  _ us.  _ Now where’s ThunderClan?”

Brokenstar snickered. “In due time, you will find your fellow Clanmates. However, I don’t think our new game will do very well for your…  _ bonds _ .”

_ Our bonds? Does he mean our friendships? Or something more? _

Firestar didn’t have time to ask before Breezepelt returned, a folder in hand. Firestar hadn’t seen one of those since his leader ceremony, when Cinderpelt had given him the entire list of rules for leading a Clan.  _ Are these the rules they’ve been talking about? _

“Here.” Breezepelt said. He handed the folder to Brokenstar and fixed his jacket. “I wanna get started already. The  _ ThunderClan  _ players are all riled up by now.”

He said ‘ThunderClan’ with such venom that Firestar couldn’t help but feel attacked.  _ That’s my Clan you’re talking about. You don’t get to- _

“All right. Let’s leave the rules with him, and we can go get the preparations finished. Come along, Breezepelt.” Brokenstar worked out of the room, placing the folder on the ground in front of the door. When the two had exited the room, the door slid down and encased the ThunderClan leader in pure white again. 

Before Firestar had time to process what had happened, the bands holding him to whatever he’d been stuck to released, and he violently shot up, slipping on the white floor. He lost his balance and landed face first on the floor.  _ Not a very good way to get up, I believe.  _

He slowly stood up this time, rubbing his nose where it had hit the floor. First, he walked over to the place where the door had been- it had led to another white corridor, wherever Brokenstar and Breezepelt had come from. He ran his hands all over the wall, and when he couldn’t find any place where he could try and pry the door open, huffed, and looked down to the folder. 

_ They wanted me to read this.  _ Firestar wondered what was inside. What was the ‘game’ they’d been talking about? Why were they referring to him and the rest of ThunderClan as ‘players’?

He picked it up and opened it, inspecting the contents. Inside were two pieces of paper. One was white, just like the walls surrounding him. The other was blood red. The writing on them looked typed- whoever had made these had access to technology the Clans didn’t use. 

Firestar read the white paper first. 

As soon as he started, his head filled with confusion. 

RULES OF THE GAME

  1. There are two types of players: Hunters and Prey. 



_ These  _ are  _ rules for some sort of game. What’s with the Hunter and Prey thing? _

  1. Hunters are all in one team. Therefore, Hunters cannot hurt other Hunters. 



Firestar scoffed at that. Bloodthirsty Dark Forest spirits had created a game where people can’t hurt others? It was a joke. It had to be. Firestar quickly scanned over the rest of the rules, feeling more and more confused with each one.  _ Countdown? Cooldown?  _ What was with all of the strange terminology?

He scanned the page until he saw a line that made him freeze.

****  
  


  1. The only ways to gain points from Prey are to immobilize or kill. Killing is generally worth more than immobilizing. 



_ Kill.  _

Firestar felt the pieces lock into place. They’d created a game because they  _ won  _ the battle and wanted to have fun with the  _ losers.  _ They’d created a game as a way to get rid of all of the Clans traitors’. 

The Dark Forest spirits had created a game with the sole purpose of death. 

He placed the white paper in one of his coat pockets. It weighed heavy in the pocket. Then he slowly began reading the blood red paper. If it’s color was anything to go by, the information on this one would be much bleaker. 

Firestar felt his blood go cold as soon as he read the first line. 

PLAYER TYPE: Prey

PLAYER SUBTYPE: Dark

PLAYER IDENTIFICATION: Fire_01

PLAYER NAME: Firestar

POINTS WORTH: 900

_ This is what they meant by player.  _

_ I’m a player in the game.  _

_ People are going to try and kill me.  _

_ Kill me.  _

_ Kill… _

This couldn’t be right. He was dreaming. Yes, that was right. Tigerstar had knocked him out, and how he was lying in the medicine den, being scolded by Jayfeather for being so reckless and risking his final life. He wasn’t being forced into some brutal game where bloodthirsty people could quench their thirst. 

This wasn’t real. 

That was what Firestar had been repeating his his mind when a huge screen suddenly appeared behind him. 

He whipped his head around when he heard the sound of tiles shifting, and was shocked to see a screen forming in front of his very eyes. This wasn’t just any Dark Forest base. This was a super-advanced, StarClan knows what else was there type of base. 

The screen settled in its new place in the wall, leaving Firestar dumbfounded. When it started to play a video, he jolted at the sudden sound. Why was everything so  _ sudden  _ here?

“Hello players! I hope you’re ready for our game!”

Firestar instantly felt his hands clench into fists. Here, on video, was Tigerstar himself, looking very happy with himself. He was looking everything he didn’t deserve to be, if Firestar was being honest. 

“I assume you’ve all read the rules and had accustomed yourselves to your roles in our game,” Tigerstar stood aside as a graphic of a white and red paper filled the left side of the screen. Firestar felt his pocket and knew the papers were still in there. “We Moderators worked very hard to make sure you are all suited to your player types. It’s a very harsh world we have created, and we want to make sure you are comfortable!”

_ Yeah, and hedgehogs fly. You just want us to suffer.  _

“Make sure you follow our rules as soon as the game is started!” At those words, another image flashed on the screen. It was a birds-eye view of a very familiar place- the lake. Except…

This wasn’t the lake Firestar had come to know. 

This lake was surrounded by blackened trees and burned grass, rushing torrents where streams once lay. The boundaries between what Firestar knew had been Clan territories were turned from simple signposts to chain-linked fences. All of the buildings the Clans had worked so hard to build after finding new land had been wrecked. 

_ What did they do?! _

Tigerstar came back onto the screen. “This is your playing field! You all know the rules, and I’m sure your revving to go, so…”

As soon as he finished speaking, the screen sunk back into the wall, tiles shifting and leaving no trace that something had once been there. On the other side of the room, the door opened once more, but this time, it wasn’t to a pure-white corridor. 

It was to a flooding river. 

Water rushed into the room, bringing with it sticks and stones. Firestar found himself being pulled off his feet, the water not letting him stay planted on the ground. 

“Whoah!” Firestar shouted, caught off guard by the sudden change. The room filled to halfway, and Firestar watched as the door slowly became submerged.  _ How in the name of StarClan is this happening?! Did they move the room?! _

Water came up over his head and he bumped into the ceiling. That was when Firestar realized he had to leave the room. 

_ Now.  _

He wasn’t a RiverClan member by any means, but if he had to swim to survive, so be it. He was already half out of breath, so adrenaline decided to pitch in. The current tried to pull him back into the room, but his strength fought against it as he managed to grab hold of the doorframe and pull himself out. 

For the first time since he’d woken up, Firestar thought he saw actual sunlight, not artificially generated stuff that hurled his eyes. 

He struggled to get to the top of the water- wherever he was, the water wasn’t just flooding his room. He flailed his arms in an attempt to go upwards. The water rushed in his ears. 

Then Firestar spotted a rock coming towards him, and everything went black. 


	4. 0-2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dovewing and Jayfeather find themselves trapped in a strange room- Dovewing discovers things she’d never thought could have happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s Dovewing and Jayfeather time boysss!!  
> I tagged them before their chapter was even posted, oops. But anyway, weekdays are here and I probably won’t have as much time to write, but this is the first sorry I’ve actually become invested in, so who knows!

0-2

The First Countdown

Dovewing couldn’t believe this was happening to ThunderClan. 

The Dark Forest came and  _ won.  _ They fought the Clans and  _ won,  _ on territory that wasn’t their own. The Clans had failed, and now Dovewing was trapped in some strange place with nobody telling her what was going on. 

She’d been trapped in a strange white room with her only company being Jayfeather. He wasn’t much company to begin with, and now that he was on the losing side of a huge battle and in a place he didn’t know, he was, to say the least,  _ not having any of it.  _

Dovewing couldn’t count how many times she’d prayed to StarClan to  _ please, don’t let Jayfeather be mad for too long, _ because they actually needed to work together if they wanted to get out of their situation. But every time she asked him a simple question- “Where are we, Jayfeather?”- it was met with scorn and unpleasantness. 

“Where are we, Jayfeather?”

“How am I supposed to know? You’re the one who can hear things. Figure it out.”

Dovewing pouted. “I’ve  _ tried  _ that! Don’t you think I would’ve told you what I’d found if I’d actually found out where we are?”

Jayfeather snorted. “I don’t know. What have you found if you haven’t found anything, then?”

Dovewing adjusted her warrior jacket. She thumbed at the ThunderClan pin that lay over her heart. How would she word this?

“Well… I can’t see anything.”

“And?”

Dovewing huffed. “As in, I tried using my powers and they  _ didn’t work _ ! I can only see the things in this room,  _ hear  _ the things in this room!”

Jayfeather put on a surprised expression. “I’m guessing that would be pretty suffocating for you?”

“Yes. It is.” Dovewing said. “I feel so… lost. What’s happened to Ivypool? To ThunderClan?  _ My powers _ ?”

Jayfeather walked over to her and sat down, patting an area of the floor, signaling her to sit with him. Dovewing complied, feeling the cold of the floor sink into her body. “One,” Jayfeather started, “none of us could possibly know what’s happened to Ivypool. It would be best not to worry. I don’t think she’d let herself get killed that easily.”

Dovewing shivered at the thought of Ivypool  _ dying.  _ She comforted herself in the fact that Jayfeather thought she wouldn’t go down without a fight. “Two. I heard what happened to ThunderClan. I could smell the trees rotting and feel the houses crumbling. I’m assuming it didn’t look too pretty.”

It hadn’t. Dovewing felt her heart crumble at the mere thought of what had happened to ThunderClan before she and Jayfeather had been put in this room. She couldn’t bear to imagine what had happened since they’d been gone. 

“Three. I know how you feel. I think my power’s gone too.”

“What?” Dovewing said. “What do you mean, yours is gone too? I thought we were supposed to save the Clans! What’s gonna happen if we don’t-“

“Shhh!” Jayfeather suddenly stopped all conversation. 

Dovewing wondered what had happened, until she heard the tiles on the walls shifting. The tiles that moved were over on the wall across from the two, so she could see what was happening without turning her head. It looked like the wall was opening a tiny bit- until it stopped, leaving a small slit, but enough only for the thinnest objects to go through. 

And, sure enough, something did come through. It was a folder- it landed with a small  _ thump  _ on the floor. Another one followed it, landing on top. Then the tiles shifted again, leaving the walls as bare as they’d been a second ago. 

Dovewing’s interest was piqued, to say the least. She hadn’t seen tech like this… ever, really. The most she’d seen was a printer that had somehow made its way from the outside territory to ThunderClan. She’d pondered over how it worked for days, but…

_ This  _ was so much more interesting. 

“ _ Well _ ? What is it?” Jayfeather said.  _ Oh. Right.  _

“I’ll go and see!” Dovewing said. “Just stay here. We don’t know if the wall’s gonna open you again.”

Jayfeather snorted and shifted in his healer vest. “Yeah, as if I’d go into a magic wall. I’m blind, not an idiot.”

Dovewing paid no attention to him. She was far more interested in the folders that had come through the wall. She kneeled on the floor and picked the one on top up. Dovewing felt her skin prickle as she opened it- she didn’t know why. 

She knew why a second later. 

RULES OF THE GAME

One paper was a list of rules, describing some sort of game that Dovewing, in all honesty, didn’t want to participate in. It seemed… like a joke, to be clear. A big, fat joke. Like, seriously?  _ Hunters? Prey?  _ The Clans might take the whole cat things a bit too seriously, but… this was taking it too far. 

People wouldn’t kill each other, right? Not for some silly game?

Dovewing gulped. She sure hoped so. 

Quietly, she placed the paper on the ground. Only one paper was left in the folder. This one…

Was much, much more menacing. 

PLAYER TYPE: Prey

PLAYER SUBTYPE: Light

PLAYER IDENTIFICATION: Jay_01

PLAYER NAME: Jayfeather

POINTS WORTH: 500

_ Jayfeather is worth 500 points in this twisted game.  _

Dovewing looked it over again and again. It said the same thing: Jayfeather, the ThunderClan healer, the person who was part of a prophecy  _ with her _ , was mere prey in this game. 

_ What goes on in those Dark Forest peoples’ heads?! _

Dovewing removed that paper from the folder and placed it on top of the other one. She put the folder aside and gripped the one that she hadn’t yet opened with both hands.  _ If there are two, and Jayfeather was the topic of the last one… _

“This one’s mine…” Dovewing whispered, quiet enough that Jayfeather couldn’t hear her. It was as if she wasn’t really speaking at all- just air coming out of her lips. 

Quick as a fox, she snapped it open and ripped out the paper on top. She didn’t need the rules. She just needed to know. 

_ How many points am I worth, then?! Will people go far to- _

PLAYER TYPE: Hunter

Dovewing’s blood ran cold. 

_ Hunter.  _

_ I’m a… Hunter?  _

_ What? _

Slowly, she read through the entire description of her. 

PLAYER TYPE: Hunter

PLAYER IDENTIFICATION: Dove_01

PLAYER NAME: Dovewing

STARTING RANK: C

What did this all mean..? What did it mean,  _ starting rank C _ ?

“What did you find, Dovewing?” Dovewing was snapped out of her flurry of questions by a very annoyed Jayfeather. Dovewing realized she had taken a long time to go through the folders, mostly thinking instead of telling her findings to Jayfeather. 

“Oh! Sorry!” Dovewing said shakily.  _ If he really doesn’t have his power anymore… I’m glad he can’t feel how I feel right now.  _

“Come on, then. Spill.”

“Well, uh.” Dovewing picked up the papers and walked over to Jayfeather, sitting where she’d sat before. “There were two folders that came out of a little hole in the wall, and, well, there’s some papers inside.”

“ _ And? _ ” 

“Apparently, we’re in some sort of game? I don’t really know, nothing’s been clear, but… people have to  _ kill  _ each other in the game.”

Jayfeather was silent at that. Dovewing shifter awkwardly at that. She hadn’t expected  _ nothing  _ as a response. More like, she’d expected Jayfeather to go all ‘I’ll find a way!’ mode and save them both. 

Instead, she got a snicker. 

“What’s so funny?! Do you want to die?!” She’d been one edge the entire time the two had been trapped here- ThunderClan had  _ lost.  _ Dovewing didn’t know where Ivypool  _ was.  _ Her powers were  _ gone,  _ and she didn’t know why. The last thing she needed was a grumpy healer not taking her seriously!

“No, I don’t want to die, Dovewing.” Jayfeather said. “I’m just surprised you’d take something that’s so obviously a joke so seriously.”

Dovewing felt frustration rise in her stomach. “What do you mean, obviously a joke?! If we’re trapped by  _ Dark Forest  _ people, it’s obviously  _ not  _ a joke!”

Jayfeather’s left eye twitched. “I don’t think people from the Dark Forest would go through so much trouble just to have us play a silly game. It’s be much easier to just kill us off now,” the healer took a deep breath,”so maybe that’s their plan. Make us feel hopeless then kill us off. Have us feel nothing but despair.”

_ That’s cruel… but not as cruel as whatever this game is.  _ Dovewing huffed.  _ Why couldn’t we have won?! Then none of this would be happening… and I wouldn’t even have to  _ think  _ about being a Hunter in a stupid game… _

“Stop being so nervous. We’ll get out of here soon.” Dovewing filled with surprise. She thought Jayfeather had lost his power, like her- he’d said so! So why did he know-

“You’re shaking. Even without a power, it’s easy to tell you’re upset.” Jayfeather said. Dovewing felt a bit disappointed. She’d had hope for a split second, and it was taken away.  _ We really are powerless to change our situation here… _

The tiles shifted again, filling the room with noise. Dovewing yelped and jumped out of her spot on the floor- the wall had shifted right behind her. Jayfeather was slower to move, but she could tell he’d been put even more on edge by the sudden sound. “What’s that?!” Jayfeather practically hissed, standing and shuffling away from the wall. 

“It’s, uh- the wall’s just moving again! No big deal!” Dovewing said, trying to be as reassuring as Jayfeather had been to her.

“ _ No big deal _ ?! It sure sounds like a  _ big deal _ to me!” Jayfeather shouted. 

_ Yeah, you’re right.  _ Dovewing bit her bottom lip. The wall was slowing down now- something had  _ come out of it.  _ This one looked like a screen. The only screen Dovewing had ever seen was the single one that was in the center of the Gathering building- and that one only flashed the Clan symbols as leaders spoke. It didn’t do… whatever this one was doing.  _ This is a really high-tech place. Where did the Dark Forest people even get it? _

The wall finally stopped, and Dovewing’s eyes were fixed on the screen. Jayfeather grumbled something about how  _ I don’t get enough recognition to have heart attacks like this  _ as he fixed his vest. The ThunderClan healer must’ve really not liked the situation the two were in. 

Dovewing watched the screen. It suddenly flashed to life, showing the face of-

_ Tigerstar.  _

“Wha- what’s he doing there,” Dovewing asked, then added, “oh, I’m talking about how Tigerstar’s on the screen…” Jayfeather sighed. 

“How am I supposed to know? He’s probably going to tell us something. Just tell me if the screen shows something else.” Jayfeather then turned, walked to a corner of the room, and sat down, as if he was going to sleep.  _ I can’t stop you,  _ Dovewing thought.  _ Just tell you what happens.  _

“Hello players! I hope you’re ready for our game!” Tigerstar’s voice filled Dovewing’s ears. Any other person would’ve thought he was just being flamboyant and happy, but the ThunderClan warrior saw through his jubilant tone of voice. This was a message… that everything Dovewing had read about was  _ true.  _

She looked behind her and saw Jayfeather grimacing. He’d heard, and he wasn’t happy about it. 

“I assume you’ve all read the rules and have accustomed yourselves to your roles in the game.” Dovewing saw a graphic of two papers fill the screen-  _ the papers I read.  _ Jayfeather had a confused look on his face, and only then did Dovewing realize she hadn’t told him everything. 

“Oh- right!” Dovewing said ashamedly. “I’ll tell you every detail on the papers-“

Dovewing didn’t have time to tell the confused healer anything before Tigerstar returned to the screen and started speaking again. “We Moderators worked very hard to make sure you are all suited to your player types. It’s a very harsh world we have created, and we want to make sure you are comfortable!” At those words, Dovewing felt something boil in her chest.  _ Liar. You just want us all to suffer, don’t you? It’s why you put me and Jayfeather here, away from anyone else… _

“Make sure you follow the rules as soon as the game is started!” Dovewing eyed the papers she’d taken from the folders. Then she turned back to the screen and saw an image of what she thought was the lake territory…  _ But that’s not the lake territory, is it? _

It couldn’t be. Everything looked so…  _ wrong.  _ She felt her whole body tense. “This is your playing field! You all know the rules, and I’m sure you're revving to go, so…” Tigerstar trailed off. Dovewing didn’t know if it was to add tension to an already horrendous video, but she didn’t like the implications. 

The screen moved back into the wall, tiles covering up any trace of it being there. Dovewing stood in silence.  _ This is really happening. This is really happening. This is really happening.  _ She couldn’t believe it. Why should sh-

Again, for the  _ hundredth time _ , in Dovewing’s eyes, the wall moved. A hole opened up in it and a small package fell out, landing on the floor with a small  _ thwack.  _ Jayfeather’s head lifted up, his face wearing a  _ well, go on  _ expression, and Dovewing took that as an initiative to pick it up. It was small, and very poorly wrapped in rotted leaves. Really, for all the technology the Dark Forest people had, they really couldn’t afford wrapping paper? Dovewing remembered Firestar telling her about that once, and she knew it would’ve been better used here. 

The ThunderClan warrior sighed and unwrapped the package. She threw the leaves on the floor and inspected the object inside. It was… a wristband?  _ What’s this for?  _ It looked like it could fit around her wrist. Dovewing spied a small screen embedded on one side of the wristband, the other side emblazoned with the ThunderClan symbol. 

_ Did they make this specifically for me?  _ Dovewing carefully slid it around her right wrist.  _ Hey, it does fit.  _ It was a bit too big, however, and she could easily just take it off-

_ SHHHWAK! _

The wristband shrunk, attaching itself firmly to Dovewing’s wrist. She shrieked, “AAACK-!” 

Jayfeather jolted from his position on the floor. “What’s wrong?!”

Dovewing tried desperately to pull it off, but it was now stuck on her wrist. The screen had blinked to life, displaying red numbers and letters. Dovewing shakily tried to read what it said:

DOVE_01

RANK C

0 POINTS

_ This is real- this can't be happening!  _

Jayfeather gripped her shoulders awkwardly. “Hey! Just calm down! What happened?” 

“A wristb-“

She once again had no time to explain. The wall was opening up- no tiles shifting, just a wall being lifted from the floor. Dovewing and Jayfeather stood there while the room opened up, and light suddenly shined through.  _ Natural  _ light. 

“W-wha..?” Dovewing took a small step towards the opening. This looked like… the moor. WindClan’s territory. Except, the grass was all shriveled, and the air smelled of tar and… blood. 

_ Oh, StarClan, what’s going to happen? _

“What’s happened? Did the room move again? How come it smells like blood?!” Jayfeather took Dovewing’s arm and gave it a shake. “You haven’t told me anything about-  _ anything _ ! If what’s happening is really happening, don’t you think I deserve to know?!”

Dovewing whispered, “Yes.” She took another look at her wrist. The wristband’s screen still displayed the same information, but Dovewing noticed a little button on the side. She pressed it and saw the screen change. Instead of information about herself, it was…

A timer?

COUNTDOWN 1

7:10:57:25

The numbers on the far right were going down steadily- Dovewing deduced that it was a seconds, minutes, hours, and days type of timer.  _ 7 days, 10 hours?  _ She remembered the rules mentioning Countdowns. Those were like periods of time you had to rack up points, if you were a Hunter like her…

_ I won’t do it! I won’t let myself be a murderer for their entertainment! _

Dovewing took Jayfeather’s hand and started to walk out of the room, towards the moorland. Jayfeather pulled his hand out of her grip. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Sorry!” Dovewing said. “I just wanted to stick together. We can find a secluded place and I can finally explain everything that’s happened.”

“Why can’t we do that  _ here _ ?” Jayfeather said. He still took a few steps forward, away from the room. 

Dovewing searched for the right answer. “Well, I was just thinking, don’t you want to get away from that prison? Finally?” 

Jayfeather looked a bit less on edge at that. “...you’re right. Let’s get out of this dump.”

The two of them stepped out of the room. Dovewing looked back and saw the door come back down again. Once it was secure, the room- which looked like a huge cube from the outside- sank beneath the earth and disappeared. All that was left was a gaping hole. 

_ This is something I never dreamed would happen to me…  _ Dovewing took a big gulp of air. She turned her head to the horizon. There, shrouded in shadows, she could see people- people  _ fighting.  _

Her blood, which had just started to become warm again, ran cold. Ice cold. 

_ People are actually doing this.  _

She shook her head and took another deep breath. Her face was pointed to the grass.  _ What can I do… just to survive like this? _

_ What can I do... _

When Dovewing looked back up, it was with a face full of determination. 

  
  



	5. 0-3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brambleclaw and Ivypool team up with someone unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really writing these fast huh, this is the fastest I’ve ever actually written things (cause I actually like what I’m writing?? Wow!!)

0-3

Two Deputies and a Warrior

“What’s going to happen now?” Brambleclaw felt a small pang of annoyance at the question, which he’d clearly shown he didn’t know the answer to. Well, to be fair, he was sure that Ivypool was just as clueless as her, but still. Would it pain her to let him think for five minutes?

“I don’t know.” Brambleclaw scratched at the wristband that had attached itself to his right wrist. “We just have to push on and try to find help.”

Ivypool scoffed. “If I know people at all, then nobody’s going to help us.” She looked to the ground and kicked at a patch of grass. “It was like this with the Dark Forest.”

Brambleclaw sighed. “That’s our advantage! You can use your knowledge and help us survive until we can find our Clanmates.”

At those words, Ivypool huffed and walked forward. She looked out of place in this forest, even though this was  _ ThunderClan.  _ Brambleclaw knew this was what remained of ThunderClan territory after the Dark Forest had escaped their own territory, and it just felt  _ wrong.  _ His Clanmates had worked so hard just to have their lives be thrown into chaos again. 

_ Would it have been better if we’d stayed in the old forest..? _

_ No! We would’ve died there. We’re ThunderClan, we can get through this.  _

A yowl echoed through the rotted forest. Ivypool and Brambleclaw froze. Ivypool turned to him and opened her mouth, but Brambleclaw quickly shoved his hand over her. She stared at him with wild eyes, as if saying  _ what in the name of StarClan are you doing,  _ but the ThunderClan deputy didn’t pay attention. He lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, “ _ Quiet _ .”

The two stood there, barely blending in with the blackened trees. Brambleclaw let go of Ivypool and motioned for the both of them to go hide where it was more secluded. Ivypool nodded and, ever so slowly, padded towards what Brambleclaw recognized as the training hollow. 

_ We’re not sure if the people we heard are ThunderClan, so our best bet is finding someplace that’s both hidden and easy to fight in.  _

The two picked their way through the forest and found the hollow. The trees were mangled and a few had fallen, but it was still the training hollow. Ivypool stood in the center and looked towards the edges, as if she was expecting someone to jump out at them at that very moment.  _ Like she was expecting me to do.  _

“You know, this is probably a good time to go over our game plan.” Brambleclaw said quietly. Ivypool looked at him with wide eyes. 

“Game plan? So you’re going with this? I thought our main goal was to find our Clanmates.” She hissed at him. Brambleclaw felt a stab of hurt in his heart.  _ Why can’t people stop assuming I’m going to become a bloodthirsty murderer every time I’m given the opportunity? Aren’t I the Dlan deputy? _

“That’s not it at all!” Brambleclaw said, a bit louder than a whisper. Something cracked in the distance- someone had stepped on a branch.  _ The people are coming closer.  _

“Then what is it? Why’d your father make you a Hunter?” Ivypool glared at him. The deputy clenched his fists.  _ I didn’t ask to be made a Hunter. I didn’t ask to play this game! _

“You seem a bit on edge, Ivypool,” Brambleclaw said, “is it because you don’t know where Dovewing is?”

Ivypool stared at him. The bushes surrounding the hollow moved, and Brambleclaw saw a flash of dark red hair stuck out of the leaves before sinking back in.  _ They’re here.  _

Ivypool seemed to have noticed it too. “What do we do?” The warrior whispered, feeling the inside of one of her pockets before pulling out a white piece of paper. “The rules say you have to  _ kill  _ Prey, and…”

“And you’re Prey.” Brambleclaw finished her sentence. “Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, I won’t let my Clanmates get killed.”

Brambleclaw looked at his wristband. It was currently displaying his stats, something he’d poured over while he and Ivypool had been trapped in some sort of white room. He’d been too focused on figuring out how the game worked to really take a closer look. The bushes had stopped rustling, so Brambleclaw figured he had at least a minute until someone came out. Ivypool was still on guard, so she would be able to alert him. 

He looked closer at his stats. 

BRAMBLE_01

RANK B

0 POINTS

_ Huh. So that’s what the rules meant by  _ ranks. He shoved a hand in one of his pockets and pulled out the object he’d been given along with the wristband. It was some sort of knife, in the shape of a claw. The handle had the ThunderClan symbol on one side, and on the other, a small button.  _ This could come in handy when I’m in battle, considering the Dark Forest people took all of our weapons before imprisoning us.  _

“Hey!” Brambleclaw looked up to find Ivypool raising her fists, clearly in a fighting position. He realized that someone was coming out of the bushes that grew around the hollow. Brambleclaw took the knife in his right hand and clenched his left into a fist.  _ This is not going to end without a few scratches, I can say that for sure.  _

The person walked out and was fully in their view; Brambleclaw recognized a deputy’s coat and dark red hair. If he squinted, Brambleclaw could see the shape of a ShadowClan pin, sitting on his chest. 

_ Rowanclaw! _

“What’re you doing in ThunderClan territory?!” Brambleclaw shouted. Rowanclaw looked at the two with wild eyes. He… didn’t look like he knew why. 

“I was trying to find my way to ShadowClan,” Rowanclaw began, raising his arms in a show of submission. Surprisingly, Brambleclaw didn’t see a Hunter wristband on either of his wrists.  _ So it’s either random, or the Moderators- whatever they call themselves- have different plans on how to make us all suffer.  _

“Yeah? And what happened to it?” Ivypool said in a challenging tone of voice. Even though she’d come back to the Clans, she still had some traits of a Dark Forest trainee- mainly, she was itching for a battle.  _ Though I don’t think it’s for the same reason anymore. _

Rowanclaw slowly made his way to the two, not letting his hands go down. He really wasn’t picking a fight. “The border’s an actual  _ border  _ now.” 

“What do you mean by border?” Brambleclaw asked. He’d watched the video his father had presented to everyone, but the most he’d seen was a glimpse of the territory before his wristband and knife had fallen out of the wall. Ivypool sure hadn’t been too eager to tell him anything, either. 

“Chain-link fences. I’ve only heard of them from the outside territory, so I thought I could get through…” he trailed off. Brambleclaw unclenched his fist and put the hand on his shoulder. 

“What happened when you tried to get through?” The ThunderClan deputy asked. 

Rowanclaw shuddered, and for the first time, Brambleclaw saw that his hands were covered in burn marks. 

_ What happened to you?! _

“Did they burn you or something?!” Ivypool shouted, clearly put off by the sight. 

“ _ They  _ didn’t burn me,” Rowanclaw said, “the  _ fence  _ did.”

Brambleclaw was filled with confusion. “The fence burned you? How’s that possible?” 

“I don’t know!” Rowanclaw said. “All I know is that the rules said Prey can’t leave the territory they’re put in, and I should’ve listened!”

Ivypool sighed and stopped her fighting stance. “Was anyone else with you?”

“No.” Rowanclaw said. “I woke up alone in a white room, away from my Clan, and all of the sudden I’m supposed to play this game. Then the door opened and I was  _ so close  _ to ShadowClan. But the fence blocked my way.”

_ That must be tough, to be separated from your Clan like that.  _ Brambleclaw thought back to the rules. “Didn’t the rules say something where you could go to different places after each Countdown?”

“I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait for that!” Rowanclaw said. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, wincing- Brambleclaw guessed his hands still hurt- and looked down to the ground. “They didn’t give me any sort of way to tell the time. I’ll be stuck here until I die.”

“That’s not true!” Brambleclaw said. He raised his right hand and pointed to his wristband. “Look. I got this wristband, and it tells me how long is left until the Countdown is over.”

Rowanclaw took a surprised look at the screen. It was still displaying the timer. 

COUNTDOWN 1

7:10:41:37

“Seven days..?” Rowanclaw said. “Does that mean I have to wait seven days until I can go back to ShadowClan?” 

“Yes.” Brambleclaw affirmed. “And don’t worry. We know this territory well,” he placed a hand on Ivypool’s shoulder, “and we’ll guide you until the time is up.” Ivypool nodded reluctantly. It looked like she didn’t want to be helping someone from a different Clan like this, but she really had no choice, not when the rest of ThunderClan was still missing.

Rowanclaw looked over the two. Brambleclaw was still holding the knife, except his hand was over Ivypool’s shoulder. Brambleclaw noticed a bit of doubt flicker through the ShadowClan deputy’s eyes.  _ What’s he thinking ab- _

“You’re trying to kill me.”

“What?!” Brambleclaw shouted. “No I’m not! I’m trying to  _ protect  _ you!”

Rowanclaw glared at him. “You were holding a  _ knife  _ at me. As far as I know, Prey didn’t get any sort of weapons or…  _ wristbands. _ I heard what you were talking about earlier, and  _ she’s  _ Prey.  _ You’re  _ a Hunter.”

“And I didn’t want to be!” Brambleclaw said, trying to defend himself. “I didn’t choose to be this type of player! I didn’t choose to play this game in the first place! Nobody did!”

“Your father is one of the Moderators.” Rowanclaw said. “He put us in this mess, and made  _ you  _ one of the players people won’t be trying to  _ kill _ . I’d say that’s far from  _ oh, I didn’t want to play _ , Brambleclaw.”

Brambleclaw felt hot frustration bubbling up in his chest.  _ Don’t get angry. He’ll take that as proof that you’re trying to kill him and get points.  _

“Can we just stop this?” Ivypool sighed. “We’re gonna get nowhere like this.”

“I don’t feel like going along with a Hunter for seven days,” Rowanclaw took a step back, “because I value my life. ShadowClan  _ needs  _ me.”

“Yes, ShadowClan needs you. That’s why you need to come with me. I have a plan to protect my Clanmates, and I want to try it out on you.” Brambleclaw said, taking the white paper that had the rules of the game on it out of a pocket. 

“Try and kill me to protect your Clanmates. I  _ dare  _ you.” Rowanclaw said, a fierce grin appearing on his face. Ivypool rolled her eyes. 

“He means he’ll try and  _ protect  _ you to see if his plan will actually work.” She turned to Brambleclaw. “That’s what you meant, right?”

“Yes.” Brambleclaw said, poring over the rules until he found the right one. “There!” He pointed to a rule listed, and Rowanclaw and Ivypool looked at the paper. 

  1. Hunters are all in one team. Therefore, Hunters cannot hurt other Hunters. 



“So? How is that going to help  _ us _ , oh wise Hunter?” Rowanclaw said, crossing his arms. Brambleclaw noticed he wasn’t as tense as he had been before. 

The ThunderClan deputy started to tell the two his plan. “Well, you see, if you break a rule, the Moderators will come and ‘correct’ you, right?”

“Yes.” Ivypool said. 

“Wonder what  _ that  _ means.” Rowanclaw said. 

Brambleclaw continued. “Well, Hunters are the only people who will actually be out trying to kill, if people are actually following what the Moderators say. I’m a Hunter, so they can’t hurt me… so I’ll act as a  _ shield _ .”

“A… shield?” Ivypool asked, confused. Rowanclaw had the same expression as her on his face. Brambleclaw clearly had some more explaining to go through. 

“So. People don’t want to be corrected, right?” Rowanclaw and Ivypool nodded.  _ For a full-grown deputy and a full-grown warrior, you sure look like apprentices right now. Should I start calling you ‘paws? _

_ No, don’t do that.  _ “People don’t want to be corrected, so they follow the rules. The rules specify Hunters cannot hurt other Hunters. That means if I shield you from other Hunters, they can’t get to you without going through  _ me _ .”

Rowanclaw’s face lit up like a lightbulb. “Oh! So you’re just using me as a  _ test subject _ ?”

_...StarClan, help me.  _

“Shut up.” Ivypool said, batting the ShadowClan deputy on his head. “Brambleclaw has a good plan. If it works, he can protect you  _ and  _ my Clanmates, so it’s a win-win.”

Rowanclaw sighed and nodded his head. “Fine. I’ll do it. But only for seven days, got it?”

“Got it.” Brambleclaw stuck out his hand, and put the knife back in his pocket. “Shake on it?”

Rowanclaw took Brambleclaw’s hand. They shook on it. Rowanclaw said, “Agreed.”

Ivypool huffed. “Deputies. Always fighting and never getting to the root of the problem.”

_ I’ll let that slide for now,  _ Brambleclaw thought.  _ Right now… we have other concerns.  _

Another yowl reached the newly formed trio’s ears. 

The game was still going on. 

_ I don’t know how we’re going to get through this, but… our Clanmates are out there.  _ Brambleclaw looked to the blackened trees beyond the hollow, then farther back, then to the horizon. Even if he couldn’t see them, they were out there. 

_ We’re going to find them- and time is ticking.  _

Brambleclaw looked back to his new party. 

“Let’s go! We’re on the clock.”


	6. 0-4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Squirrelflight starts the game with a chase from Hunters, and Tigerheart comes to the rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter comes back to Firestar! Finally, I’m done with all of the character setup and stuff.... I haven’t read Omen of the Stars in a WHILE, so I’m sorry if some of the characters are a little off, but I’m doing my best with what I remember!

0-4

Hunted

Squirrelflight couldn’t remember the last time she’d run so hard. 

Well, that wasn’t  _ entirely  _ true. She’d run hard whenever she had to cross roads during her journey to the ocean, and she’d run hard during the battle with the Dark Forest, but…

This just felt  _ different.  _

It wasn’t like Squirrelflight had some big task to get done, so she had to run fast in order to not get hit by the big, stupid cars that didn’t stop for living human beings. She wasn’t fighting for the fate of the Clans, against people from literal hell. 

Actually, on second thought, the latter would be accurate to her current situation. 

“Just stop now! You’ll never get away!” Squirrelflight didn’t dare look behind her to give a smart comeback.  _ Not when those people are trying to kill me! _

Feet pounded into the earth.  _ A game of cat and mouse. That’s all this is to them.  _ Her breath was heavy, and her throat felt like it was being torn out. But Squirrelflight kept running, because if she didn’t, she might never see her Clan again. 

_ This is for ThunderClan! I will survive! _

The soft ground was squishy underneath her feet. She was thankful that the boots given to warriors had much more traction than normal shoes worn by Clan members; in situations like this, where Squirrelflight was forced to run for her life, it helped. 

_ If only I wasn’t in ShadowClan!  _

Squirrelflight ran, and ran, and ran. The Hunters behind her didn’t let up- it seemed as if they had just as much stamina as her, maybe  _ more.  _ How long would she be able to keep up this mad pace in unfamiliar territory? Would she be able to actually escape?

_ ThunderClan has gotta be close.  _ Squirrelflight let her run become something she didn’t even need to think about.  _ But I doubt it’ll be easy to get there. I saw a  _ fence  _ in Tigerstar’s video. That can’t be good.  _

The Hunters behind her let out another war cry, this time shouting “ _ A MILLION POINTS!”  _ at her. Like this really was some sort of  _ game  _ to them, not a race of life and death. Sometimes, Squirrelflight really hated people. 

A big tree root lay on the path before her. Squirrelflight saw it and took a big leap, clearing it in one jump. The Hunters, who, Squirrelflight figured, weren’t from ShadowClan either, we’re going too fast and tripped over it, each of them falling flat on their face. 

The ThunderClan warrior took her opportunity and started to sprint, adrenaline finally kicking in and taking over. She ran all the way to ThunderClan- or, the direction ThunderClan was in, until…

The fence. 

She stopped in her tracks.  _ I knew there was a fence, but… _

This one was  _ huge.  _ It had to be the height of the Sky Oak, each inch covered in a chain-link fashion. Squirrelflight padded towards it, and, to her surprise, heard a low  _ sizzling.  _

_ Is this thing burning?! _

Her mouth opened in a gaping  _ O,  _ and having never encountered something like this before, Squirrelflight felt hot anger. Did the Dark Forest really not have a limit? A line? Did they have a line, and consciously decide to  _ cross it _ ?

_ What am I gonna do now..? The Hunters have to be chasing after me by now! _

Sure enough, Squirrelflight heard footsteps coming straight towards her. She quickly turned around, muscles tensed and ready to fight.  _ Come at me, then. I wasn’t a fan of running anyway! _

Squirrelflight’s eyes widened. “Wha..?”

The Hunters weren’t there. Instead, a single person, coming at her with seemingly no murderous intent. He had dark brown hair, a warrior’s jacket, and a ShadowClan symbol pinned over his heart. Squirrelflight recognized him…

_ Tigerheart? _

“Hey!” Tigerheart shouted at her, stopping right in front of where she was standing. “Were those guys bugging you? ‘Cause I dealt with them.”

“I… uh…” Squirrelflight’s eye twitched.  _ I didn’t need your help, but…  _ “Thank you?”

“No problem!” Tigerheart said happily.  _ You’re too happy for someone who’s stuck in a death game.  _ “I’m pissed that people are actually taking this to heart. Do they have no shame?”

“I don’t think they do.” Squirrelflight said. She relaxed her muscles.  _ He can’t be a Hunter, because then he wouldn’t have been able to do… whatever he just did.  _ “Hey, what  _ did  _ you do to those Hunters?”

Tigerheart smiled awkwardly. “Well, uh, I gave them some scratches to remember, let’s just say that.” 

Squirrelflight snickered. “I’m sure they won’t forget simple Prey getting to them like that. Who were they? I didn’t get a chance to… identify.”

“Some Dark Forest people.” Tigerheart said. “They didn’t have pins and I didn’t recognize any of them.”

“Huh.” Squirrelflight said.  _ So they were just nobodies who would follow Tigerstar’s every whim… why am I not surprised? _

“Anyway! What’re you doing in ShadowClan?” 

Squirrelflight’s eye twitched and the only thought running through her mind was  _ Is this man actually serious.  _ “Wha- I didn’t  _ want  _ to be dropped in ShadowClan! Plus, if you haven’t noticed, there’s a  _ fence  _ blocking my way.” 

Tigerheart rolled his eyes. “Can’t ThunderClan cats climb trees?” He stepped forward until he was right in front of the fence, then lifted a hand.  _ Oh no.  _ “If you can’t then ThunderClan is more stupid than I- YEEOW!”

Tigerheart pulled his hand back as quickly as a bird trying to get away from a cat. “What  _ is  _ that?! Why’s it burning?!” He cradled his hand close to his chest like it was a newborn baby. 

Squirrelflight shrugged. “I dunno. But I didn’t climb the fence because I could kind of hear it sizzling, or something like that. I’m pretty sure normal fences don’t sizzle like that.”

“I don’t think metal sizzles at all,” Tigerheart mumbled, glaring at the fence. “I  _ hate  _ fences. Why couldn’t the game have gone on without them?”

“You’re acting pretty calm and whiny for someone in a death game.” Squirrelflight said. “Are all ShadowClan members like this?”  _ That’s right. You shouldn’t have called ThunderClan stupid.  _

“Whaaaaa? No! Of course not! And I didn’t mean it when I said  _ all  _ ThunderClan people are stupid…” For some reason, Squirrelflight felt like there was something more behind his words when he said  _ all.  _ She didn’t try and pry, though, because the best thing to have right now we’re allies. She could use an ally in unfamiliar territory. 

“Right, sorry.” The ThunderClan warrior raised a hand. “Want to team up? We could wait this out until I can go back to ThunderClan again.”

Tigerheart stared at her hand. “I, uh, don’t know if I want to do that.”

_ Why not?  _ “Come on. You helped me out back there, so I’ll rerun the favor. A claw for a claw.”

“That’s not how you use that expression,” Tigerheart slowly raised his hand that hadn’t been burned by the fence, “but okay. Just until we-  _ you  _ can get back to ThunderClan.”

They clasped hands and shook on it. Squirrelflight put on a determined face.  _ I  _ will  _ survive this. You just wait, Tigerstar.  _

Tigerheart wrestled his hand out of her grip and stuffed it into one of his jacket pockets. “Soooooo… what’re we going to do? I’m pretty sure we aren’t the only ones in ShadowClan territory.”

“Yeah, you can say that for sure.” Squirrelflight thought back to when she’d first emerged from her cube prison, and had been immediately faced with Hunters who hadn’t had friendly intentions. ShadowClan territory was bound to be teeming with other Prey and Hunters- the question was,  _ where were they _ ?

“There’s gotta be some in the camp.” Tigerheart said. “The clearing has enough space for a weird cube room to fit. Maybe two.” Squirrelflight nodded. 

“In that case, there would be some in ThunderClan’s camp too. I’m sure the Moderators didn’t just mix me up.” Squirrelflight felt annoyed at the fact that Tigerheart had been placed in his home Clan, but she hadn’t. Was it because… no, that couldn’t be possible. Tigerheart had been nice to her so far! He couldn’t be involved in the game. 

“What should we do, then? Go to the camp or go away from it?” Tigerheart said. “Maybe we should go to the lake, and see if we can get to the other Clans from there.”

“High chance there’s a fence.” Squirrelflight said. “If the Moderators went as far as to put burning fences along the land borders, who’s to say they wouldn’t block off the lake, too?”

Tigerheart sighed. “You’re right. But what if it  _ isn’t  _ blocked off? The view of the lake was too obscured for me to see a dance in the video.”

The ShadowClan warrior turned his head in the direction of the lake. “I just want this to be over. Maybe your friends in ThunderClan can help me.”

Squirrelflight scratched at her head. “Why’re you so obsessed with getting to ThunderClan? Don’t you trust ShadowClan?”

“Ah! Uh, no, it’s not that I don’t trust ShadowClan, it’s- uh, it’s just that…” Squirrelflight watched in amusement as Tigerheart dissolved into a blushing, backed into a corner mess.  _ Is he really Tigerstar’s grandson? He doesn’t seem to have gotten  _ anything  _ from him, apart from his looks… _

Tigerheart noticed Squirrelflight smiling like a mother at her child, and quickly stood up straight, face still messy and hands still burnt. “You’re mean!”

“Oho, so that’s how it’s going to go?” Squirrelflight said mockingly. “You’re stuck with me, and-“

“Let’s just go to the lake, okay?!” Tigerheart shouted. Squirrelflight stared at him in surprise. The ShadowClan warrior immediately took to looking down at his feet and messing with his ShadowClan pin. “...sorry. I’m just a bit on edge. Guess the game got to me.”

Squirrelflight awkwardly patted his shoulder. “Ah, it’s okay. We’ll go to the lake, and when we don’t find anything, we can just kick some more stupid Dark Forest Hunters in the face.”

Tigerheart smiled. “Yeah. We can do that. And no, we’re gonna find something. You can bet on it.”

“Your jacket. If there’s no way to get to ThunderClan from the lake, you give me your jacket.”

“That’s no fair! I worked hard for this! Plus, didn’t I save  _ you  _ earlier?”

“Gah- hey, look, a butterfly!”

“Quit changing the subject!” Tigerheart sniffed, looking like an angry toddler. Squirrelflight snickered.  _ I got you.  _

This wasn’t going to be easy. 

But… it might turn out to be a bit fun. 

Squirrelflight jolted and slapped herself in the face. Tigerheart yelped and gripped her shoulders, wincing when his burnt hand touched her jacket. “Why’d you do that?!”

“Because I just thought this game could be  _ fun,  _ that’s what!” Squirrelflight said. Tigerheart stared her in the eyes. 

“You overreact too much.”

“Same goes for you, ShadowClan moron.”

“Hey! ThunderClan control freak!”

Squirrelflight grinned.  _ Who said I can’t have a bit of fun to turn a dark time into a… less dark time? I can bring a bit of light to it.  _

“ShadowClan fox. Let’s go to the lak-“

“YYEOWCH!”

Squirrelflight and Tigerheart jumped at the sudden screech. It had come from the direction of the fence- Squirrelflight quickly turned and saw a flash of red recede into the bushes on the other side. It didn’t look like whoever had screamed had said anything. 

“I didn’t even see who that was!” Tigerheart said. “They were so fast…”

“It sounded like they touched the fence, like you.” Squirrelflight said. “I don’t think they saw us, either, or they’d have tried to talk to us.”

“Would they have, though?” Tigerheart said. He wrung his hands. “I’m not sure many others are looking for a team up right now. And some guys on the other side of a burning fence wouldn’t be much help.”

“We’re a team, though.” Squirrelflight said. She glared angrily at the fence. “We’re gonna find a way around this. You can trust me on that.”

She gripped his shoulder and started to ull him in the direction of the lake. 

“Come on, teammate. We have to move.”


	7. 0-5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Firestar wakes up to Lionblaze and Graystripe standing over him in a territory that positively isn’t ThunderClan’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaa sorry for not updating! I haven’t had time to write,, but here it is! Firestar is here, and it’s time for his game to begin! (Sorry it’s so short,,,,,)

0-5

Sink or Swim

_ “D..you..think…he’s..live?” _

_ “Don..know. Try get..his...ulse.” _

_ “Got..boss.” _

Firestar barely heard the voices on top of him. His eyes felt too heavy to be lifted, and along with a piercing headache, he didn’t feel like he was in any condition to try and get up.  _ What’s happened to me..? _

“Hey! I feel something! I think he woke up!”

The voices became sharper- Firestar felt like he was fully waking up now. He felt his clothes, weighing down on him- they were soaking wet.  _ Oh. Right. The room filled with water and… _

Something slapped him and his eyes snapped open involuntarily. 

Firestar winced at the sudden influx of light. “Eck,” he let the noise exit his mouth. It was all he could do at the moment, his condition not permitting anything more than inhuman noises to be said. Blurry figures stood over him. One looked to be crouched down- the one that slapped him, most likely. 

“Oh, thank StarClan, you’re not dead! Firestar somehow felt like he recognized that voice. “Can’t have you dying on us, can we?” No, he  _ definitely  _ knew that voice. 

“Gray...stripe?”

“Hah! You knew it was me!” The man said. He became less blurry and Firestar recognized his ThunderClan warrior jacket and short gray hair. The warrior turned and grinned at someone behind him. Firestar tilted his head slightly, wincing at how it aggravated his headache, and squinted. This time, the blurriness went away to reveal a younger man- a  _ boy _ , more like- wearing a warrior’s jacket and sporting wild golden hair. 

_ Lionblaze.  _ Firestar would recognize his grandson  _ anywhere _ \- even if he wasn’t exactly looking like himself at the moment. “You shouldn’t have slapped him, man.” Lionblaze said, bopping Graystripe on the head. 

Graystripe snickered. “I think  _ you  _ should respect your elders, oh mighty warrior! I what’s best.”

“You don’t just  _ slap  _ your leader like that-“ he looked down for a moment. “...do you? Are the senior warriors just… allowed to do that?”

_ What? No!  _ “What? No!” Graystripe said. “However,  _ I  _ am an exception, since I’ve known your old man since he came here. Don’t worry, he won’t exile me for this!” The senior warrior gave a cheeky grin that Firestar knew he’d be able to make fun of later.  _ Just wait until I’m able to give you a piece of my mind.  _

Lionblaze uncomfortably scratched at the base of his head. “Anyway. I think you should help him get up.”

“Huh? Why me?” 

“Haven’t you known him since he came here? Can’t you help him better than me? I  _ am  _ the one that pulled him out of the river.”

“You’re his  _ flesh and blood _ ! Can’t you help your flesh and blood?”

“Stop...being...idiots.” Lionblaze and Graystripe stopped talking and looked down to their leader. Firestar grinned internally.  _ I doubt they’d have stopped arguing if I wasn’t a leader.  _

_ I love my family.  _

“Woah! Okay, you’re talking! Doesn’t that mean you can stand on your own? C’mon, try it!” Graystripe prodded at Firestar’s shoulder. 

Lionblaze crouched down and shoved Graystripe away. “Stop it, oldie! You’re gonna strain him.”

“ _ Oldie?!  _ I can make you clean the elders’ den for  _ years _ , you know that?!”

“No you can’t.”

“...okay, I can’t.” Graystripe sighed and shoved an arm under Firestar’s, copying Lionblaze’s movements. “Ya better thank me, Fire,” Graystripe grunted as the two pulled their leader onto his feet, “I got my jacket wet for you.”

“Oh, please, did  _ you  _ jump in a river to save your grandfather? Didn’t think so.” Lionblaze added as he helped balance Firestar. The leader felt like the ground was wobbling under his feet-  _ why does almost dying have to make me feel this way? It never did when I had lives to spare.  _

Graystripe huffed and mumbled, “Young kids thinking they know everything…”

Firestar chuckled and tried to steady himself, still supporting himself with his two Clanmates’ shoulders. “You’re already acting like an elder.”

“If this stupid game didn’t make me feel so old and rusty compared to all of the others we’ve encountered, I doubt I’d be calling this knucklehead a young kid.” Graystripe said. “Everyone moves like they’ve got somewhere to be, and it’s been driving me crazy.”

“You mean you’ve been..?” Firestar trailed off. A shout in the distance made the group go silent. Lionblaze picked up where the leader left off. 

“Chased.” Lionblaze said. “Some people tried to kill us, which wasn’t very nice of them.”

“I’d say!” Graystripe sighed. “Got a nasty scratch.” He lifted his left hand and glared at his wrist. Firestar saw a small gash in the flesh. It wasn’t bleeding, but it looked like it must’ve hurt. 

“I think you’d… better get that treated.” Firestar said. 

“How? As far as I know, the only people here are bloodthirsty idiots who wouldn’t know marigold from catmint.”  _ I can’t argue with that. The monsters that stuck everyone in this situation… _

“So it’s really happening? The whole game thing?” Firestar said. He’d been silently hoping this was all just a bad dream and the two had just saved him after he… sleepwalked into a river.  _ RiverClan’s  _ river. 

“It’s happening.” Lionblaze said. “And we’re in RiverClan. Couldn’t get to WindClan.” He pointed a bit to the distance, and Firestar followed his point, seeing something that really didn’t improve his spirits. 

A fence. 

“That thing blocked us from WindClan!” Graystripe grumbled. “The only reason we found you was because we couldn’t get to ThunderClan right away and stuck around long enough for you to drift by.”

Lionblaze coughed, as if to gain everyone’s attention. “We only found yourself because  _ this  _ idiot wanted to climb the fence, burned his hands, and had to stick them in the river. You bumped into his hands and gave him a heart attack.”

Graystripe nearly blushed. “You didn’t have to give away the whole story! Now I sound like I don’t have two brain cells to rub together…”

“You don’t.” At that, Graystripe stuck out his tongue- not like the seasoned senior warrior of ThunderClan he was, but more like a child that just learned how to insult a person. Firestar honestly didn’t feel surprised that this was how they usually acted whenever he wasn’t around. 

The thing was, he  _ was  _ around. Firestar was literally touching them both. So, they either acted like this  _ all the time _ , or they’d both just had nervous breakdowns and this was how they came back from that.  _ Honestly, I don’t know which option I should be more concerned at.  _

Another yowl echoed through RiverClan’s territory. Firestar's leader instincts told him that whoever had done that was an enemy- though he assumed his Clanmates’ warrior instincts told them the same.  _ What do we do? I’m certain I can’t fight in this condition, not when I’m still being held up. What do we do…?! _

“I think I have a plan, in case those guys are… Y’know,  _ bad. _ ” Lionblaze said. He was tense. Another yowl, and the trio were now certain that whoever that was was coming closer. Graystripe sighed and glared into the trees. 

“Spit it out or I’m going to push you in the river.” Graystripe said. They could hear distant  _ explosions  _ now, just barely heard over the roar of the river. The explosions seemed quick and… concise.  _ It can’t be. I haven’t heard that type of explosion since… since I was in the outside territory.  _

Lionblaze nodded. “We go in the river.”

“Ex _ cuse  _ me? Did I hear you right?” Graystripe said. “It’s either you’ve gone crazy or I’m just getting old  _ really  _ quickly.”

“What do you mean by  _ go in the river _ ?” Firestar asked, his sentence punctuated by another explosion.  _ Those  _ are  _ what I think they are _ , he thought.  _ Gunshots.  _

_ This won’t be good.  _

“You’re hearing new just fine. I know we aren’t RiverClan, but we can still hold on to rocks, right?” Lionblaze said, slowly walking towards the raging river. Firestar was pulled along with him. Graystripe just stared at them incredulously. 

“I know  _ you  _ can hold on, but  _ Firestar _ ?  _ Me _ ?! He was just drowned, and you want to put him back in the water?!” Something hit the tree bark a few hundred feet away. The trio looked in shock. Firestar thought about how they’d never seen a gun before- this was all new to them. 

“I can do it,” Firestar said, half convincing them and half convincing himself. The two looked at him with doubt on their faces- it seemed like Lionblaze hadn't been expecting his leader to agree. 

“It’s either that or we get shot,” Firestar pushed Lionblaze away and stood on two shaky feet, “and I’d rather take my chances with the river. Even if we lose our grip, it’ll pull us farther from the guys that want to shoot us.” 

Graystripe groaned.  _ You really didn’t want to do this, did you?  _ “Fine. I’ll do it. But only because you’re my leader and I’m a loyal warrior.” He padded towards the riverbank, which was now a patch of grass far from the  _ actual  _ bank, and sighed. Another bullet bounced off a tree in the distance- a distance that was much closer now. 

Lionblaze took a look at his Clanmates, plugged his nose, and leapt in. Firestar watched as his grandson splashed in the water and was pulled a few feet away by the current, before he scrabbled on the underwater rocks and found a place where he could hold on tightly. His head breached the water and, from the looks of it, he was okay. 

_ Your turn.  _ Firestar took Graystripe’s unwilling shoulders and gave them a shove. The warrior plunged into the river and did the same as Lionblaze, albeit with much more struggle, seeing as he’d been a senior warrior for a long time. 

Now it was Firestar’s turn. The ground was being raked by bullets- the attackers didn’t seem to know they were there, only that if they shot everywhere, they were bound to get  _ something. A formidable strategy if you actually had a vantage point.  _ Firestar thought of that as something ricochet off the ground right next to his feet. 

That was his signal to leap in. 

The water was cold and pierced his thin layer of warmth that had taken some considerable amount of time to form. His breath was immediately taken away- but he could see the vague shapes of his two Clanmates, slowly shuffling along the rocks and making their was away from the attackers. 

Firestar sent his hands out in every direction, trying to grab onto  _ something.  _ Eventually, when his lungs finally could take it anymore, he felt the sharp edge of a rock that would’ve been on dry land if it weren’t for the river flooding. He held on with both hands and hoisted himself up, until his head was out of the water and he could breathe. 

Unfortunately, as he breathed, a bullet hit the water next to his face. 

The attackers now knew where they were. The river hiding spot hadn’t done anything to help. 

_ What do we do?!  _ Firestar thought as he went underwater again, twisting his body in all sorts of unnatural ways to avoid the bullets that were being rained on him from a mere fifty feet away. They hadn’t reached the river yet.  _ We still have time! _

Firestar felt an idea come to his head. 

It wasn’t a very good one, to be honest. 

But it was the only one he had. 

He let go of the rocks. 

Instantly, he was carried off by the current. The bodies of his two Clanmates rushed towards him, and Firestar spread out his arms-  _ You have to knock them off the rocks.  _

He did. 

Graystripe and Lionblaze let out cries of protest as they plunged into the water. All three ThunderClan members were now being pulled towards the lake- or, the general direction of the lake. 

Firestar knew this wouldn’t be easy. Survival was key- and if it took letting a raging river pull them towards what Firestar  _ knew  _ would be hostile territory, so be it. If it allowed them to get away from attackers that would kill them  _ that very moment,  _ it was fine. 

He just hoped his Clanmates would feel the same. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. 0-6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dovewing and Jayfeather start their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so: I know Antpelt is dead x2 but just. Ignore that please, I needed more characters!! Anyway, it’s them!! It’s finally their time to shine again!

0-6

Foxholes and Claws

“Stay still, idiot.”

Dovewing sighed quietly and shifted her body one more before becoming still. Jayfeather huffed and did the same, the both of them tensing up when they heard footsteps come close to their hiding spot. 

It wasn’t a very good hiding spot. More like a glorified foxhole, to be honest. It _was_ a foxhole. Yes, Dovewing and Jayfeather, two out of four of the people that were prophesied to be the ones to save the Clans from destruction, had stuffed themselves into a foxhole- that was really _way_ too big to be a foxhole- and hoped for the best. 

Now, Dovewing was sure of one thing: if any Hunters found out that the two ThunderClan members were here, they wouldn’t go easy on them. But, then, Dovewing thought back to the comforting idea of rule number three: the fact that Hunters couldn’t hurt other Hunters. 

_ That’s right. You can’t hurt me.  _ Dovewing felt herself stop breathing as a shadow flashed over the opening of the foxhole.  _...I think.  _

“They’re not here, man.” Someone spoke. They were right above Dovewing and Jayfeather’s hiding spot- if any of them so much as breathed hard, they were done for. “Can’t find ‘em.”

“Keep looking, stupid! I’m not gonna stay at Rank B the entire game.” Another person- one Dovewing now assumed was a Hunter- said. “I can’t believe Brokenstar didn’t give me the top rank from the start. He’s a rotten-“

“Shhhhh!” The other person cut in. “You can’t just say that out loud! You know there’s cameras everywhere!”

“Shut up, Antpelt. You really think they’re gonna nail me for talking against Brokenstar? I’m too important to them.”

Dovewing realized she recognized one of the voices. 

_ Breezepelt! _

“I- ugh, I  _ know,  _ okay? I know you’re all-powerful or something. But you still gotta be careful, man. You know how people in the Dark Forest are. They don’t exactly take prisoners.”

“You’re one to talk, oh great Dark Forest ghost.”

“Hey! Stop-“

CRACK!

Dovewing felt her blood run cold. She knew Jayfeather felt the same. 

_ The ground above us is cracking.  _

“Did you hear that..?” Antpelt said. Dovewing could only imagine his confused face.  _ He’s going to be even more confused when his foot breaks through and kicks one of us in the face! _

“Of course I heard that!” Breezepelt said. “You didn’t think of checking the foxhole, did you?”

“Why would I?”  _ Yeah, why would he? There’s nothing here. Definitely not two people who don’t want to be hunted right now.  _ “Nobody in their right mind would think that’s a great hiding spot.”  _ That’s right. We wouldn’t be here.  _

“Check anyway, idiot! They could be anywhere!” Dovewing heard Breezepelt smacking Antpelt on the shoulder. “I’m not losing 500 points just because  _ you  _ lost all of your brain cells when you died!”

_ No no no, don’t do it!  _ Jayfeather moved his hand and covered her mouth. “Don’t. Make. A. Sound.”

_ I know, mouse brain!  _ Dovewing glared at him for a second, then realised that there were more pressing issues on their hands at the moment. Like, for instance, how Breezepelt knew that Jayfeather was worth 500 points. She knew that the higher up in the ranks a Hunter was, the more perks said Hunter got- though she still had no idea what the perks were, seeing as she was still at the bottom of the ranks.

_ Maybe one of the perks is a tracker?  _ Dovewing thought, drawing herself away from the inevitable moment when Antpelt and Breezepelt stopped fighting and found out that there were two ThunderClan people below them.  _ No, that’s impossible. Then they would've just found us right away. Maybe a device where they can see the point values in close proximity..? _

“Hey! You know I hate it when people mention I’m dead.” Antpelt said, clearly hurt. Dovewing felt apprehension build in herself.  _ Any moment now. _

“Oh, I’m sorry I hurt your precious feelings, Antpelt,” Breezepelt said with such venom that Dovewing could practically see his sneer, “Do you want me to tell you how great you are at fighting? Because you’re such a good fighter that you  _ died. _ ”

Dovewing felt something poke her in the side. She turned her head and stared at Jayfeather, wondering what in StarClan would make him want to talk  _ now.  _ Jayfeather had a frown on his face, like he was getting ready to fight.

_ Oh, no. _

“On my mark,” he said so quietly that even if Dovewing still had her powers, she would’ve had to strain to hear, “We spring out of the ground and throw them onto their feet.”

“ _ What _ ?!” Dovewing hissed. Jayfeather shoved a hand over her mouth again. Breezepelt and Antpelt paused their argument for a second before returning to it, unaware of their Prey’s outburst.

“Shut up!” Jayfeather whispered. “We either do this, or I die, got it?! Now, on three, we go.”

Dovewing nodded.

Jayfeather let go of her mouth and tilted his head towards the dirt ceiling. It shifted, meaning one of the two Hunters up top had shifted as well. The ceiling must’ve been very, very thin.

Jayfeather lifted up a finger.  _ Three.  _ Dovewing found herself listing all of the things that could go wrong when they came out of the hole. Breezepelt could be expecting them, for one.

_ Two.  _ Dovewing tensed up every muscle in her body. Antpelt could use some weird ghost powers and make it so that none of their attacks would land. Jayfeather could end up being useless in the fight- oh, StarClan, why hadn’t they thought of that before?!

_ Three.  _

Dovewing sprang up and burst through the dirt, feeling her head knock into something harder than the ground.  _ One of the two _ . Dirt sprayed everywhere. Breezepelt shouted something unintelligible while Antpelt let out a shriek. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion.

During that too-long period of slow motion, Dovewing looked to the side and saw Jayfeather leaping out of the ground beside her, looking more like a bewildered cat than an angry human. She turned her head to the Hunters that the two had jumped towards, and saw Antpelt, his flesh looking too transparent to actually belong to a living human, and Breezepelt, his face red, scrunched up, and honestly kind of hilariously furious.

Dovewing was about to laugh when she realised that the world had stopped moving in slow motion, and she was now face-first on the dirt, breathing in dust and grass.

“I TOLD YOU-!” Breezepelt shouted, glancing wildly between his WindClan companion and the two ThunderClan members who were now frantically trying to stand up.

“AAAAAAAAA-” Antpelt screamed, as if he hadn’t seen worse from his time in the Dark Forest.  _ Though, to be fair, it must be pretty shocking to see two people burst out of the same ground you were standing on earlier.  _

“Get up get up get up!” Jayfeather hissed, grasping Dovewing’s arm and pulling her up before the two WindClan Hunters could come back to their senses. “We have to go  _ now _ !”

Dovewing didn’t-  _ couldn’t _ \- do anything but comply.  _ They can’t hurt me, they can’t hurt me, they can’t hurt me!  _ Dovewing repeated rule number three in her head over and over as she scrambled up, following Jayfeather away from the Hunters.  _ Should I be following a blind person in unfamiliar territory..? Oh, who cares?! Just run! _

Breezepelt was the first one to snap back to reality and begin the chase, Antpelt falling in a close second. “You can’t get away! I know for a  _ fact  _ that one of you can’t!” Dovewing saw Jayfeather tense at that remark.  _ Who do you think you are, talking about a healer like that?! You- _

“YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEAAOOOOOO-” The piercing scream broke through the air. Dovewing didn’t look back, but she could tell that something had happened to Antpelt. Breezepelt would never screech like that.  _ Even if he had been hurt, I doubt he’d let anyone know. He’s  _ that  _ kind of person.  _

“Get up, idiot!” The sound of feet pounding on the earth stopped behind the ThunderClan members, and Dovewing started to wonder if Antpelt had really been hurt.  _ No time.  _ The sounds of their pursuers had just started to become more faded- like they were falling further behind- and Dovewing wasn’t about to let an opportunity for a bigger gap pass by. 

_ But still… is he hurt? _

“He’s one with the Dark Forest, stupid!” Jayfeather said, his voice breathless.  _ I thought you couldn’t see into my mind anymore? Did you not lose your power after all? _ “Don’t be worried about someone who could kill me!”

“Y-you’re right.” Dovewing said.  _ You’re right.  _

“AAAAACK-!”

Another scream flew through the thick air and directly into Dovewing’s ears. How hurt could Antpelt have possibly gotten, for him to be letting out  _ this much  _ noise? Even though the two Hunters were getting farther and farther away, she could still hear him as if he were right next to her. 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Dovewing heard Breezepelt shout. Jayfeather grasped her arm and pulled her right next to him. 

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ look back!” The healer hissed in her ear. The ThunderClan border was coming closer, Dovewing could feel it.  _ But...I want to  _ know. 

Jayfeather sensed Dovewing’s thoughts- somehow, making Dovewing wonder again if the healer had really lost his powers- and tightened his grip as much as someone who’d only had a few days of warrior training could. “ _ No _ !”

Breezepelt’s voice, now just a whisper in the distance,echoed through Dovewing’s ears. 

“STOP! PUT THE CLAWS DOWN!”

Dovewing wrenched her arm out of Jayfeather’s grasp and turned around, her boots skidding on the soft dirt. Jayfeather ran a few more paces before his momentum stopped, allowing him to turn around and shout, “WHAT IN STARCLAN’S NAME ARE YOU  _ DOING _ ?!”

Dovewing didn’t pay him any attention.  _ It sounded like someone was attacking them! _

As her boots pounded on the ground and she came closer to the very spot she’d been running from a minute ago, Dovewing hesitated.  _ Should I really be going back to the Hunters? I’m a Hunter- they can’t hurt me! So why am I- _

“LET ME GO!”

Dovewing once again heard Breezepelt’s voice- but it was different this time.  _ Desperate.  _ Like a person begging for his life. 

As she rushed towards the sound, she came up the hill she’d run down and saw something… something she hadn’t been expecting to see. 

Breezepelt, being held up in the air by someone that looked like they could use a makeover. The person, wearing clothing that didn’t look like it came from any Clan. Antpelt, laying on the ground-

_ Bleeding out.  _

Dovewing couldn’t move.  _ Whoever’s holding Breezepelt up just did  _ that  _ to Antpelt.  _

“Tell me something,” the person said, “Breezepelt of WindClan.”

“I’m not- not  _ WindClan _ .” Breezepelt spat. “But I can guarantee that  _ you  _ aren’t either- so, where’d you get those claws?!”

Dovewing looked at the intruder’s hands. They were gloved in a way only people from WindClan would do. The fingers had sharp knife-like objects attached to them- like a cat’s claws. The pseudo claws were WindClan’s trademark weapon- like ThunderClan’s swords and RiverClan’s bows. WindClan were supposedly the ‘closest’ to cats, in their eyes, so it made sense that they’d use such an unorthodox weapon. 

Now, the thing was: if the person wasn’t from WindClan, how’d they get the claws?

“Who are you, anyway?! You know the rules, and you just broke them, idiot!” Breezepelt said, trying to wriggle out of the person’s grip. The claws held him tight. 

_ This isn’t good.  _ Dovewing looked at Antpelt, lying on the ground, breathing shallow.  _ He’s just lying there and those two aren’t doing anything!  _

At that moment, Jayfeather caught up to her and grabbed her on the shoulder. “Are you  _ crazy _ ?!”

“Shh. They haven’t noticed me yet.” Dovewing said. Jayfeather listened to the scene, eyes filling with confusion at the fact that the two hadn’t, in fact, started talking about murdering him. 

“Still! Let’s get away before they  _ do _ !”

“No.” 

Jayfeather’s face filled with shock. “Why not?!”

“I need to see what they’re talking about, and… I have to help him.” Dovewing pointed to Antpelt. The pool of blood was growing bigger. 

“No!” The ThunderClan healer said. “Absolutely not! We’re not saving a  _ Dark Forest Hunter _ !”

“Maybe we aren’t, but I sure can.” Dovewing said. “Wouldn’t it give us some leverage with Breezepelt? With him wanting his partner back or something?”

Jayfeather went quiet, seemingly pondering the suggestion. Dovewing took this time to turn her ears back to the scene. 

“Weren’t you the one who gave the claws to Tigerstar in the first place? A rookie move, if I’m to say anything.” The person said. Breezepelt looked both horrified and furious at the same time. 

“Tigerstar wouldn’t give them to…  _ you _ , because-“

“Because I’m not you?” The person said. “Oh, okay, then. I guess I should just change my name from Snowtuft to Breezepelt, and I’ll be allowed to have these, then.” The person-  _ Snowtuft _ ?- grinned. Breezepelt one again looked like he wanted to rip the man’s heart out. In the literal sense. 

Dovewing rapped Jayfeather’s shoulder and whispered, “ _ Now _ .”

Jayfeather, who still didn’t want any part of the whole rescuing-Antpelt thing, shook his head violently. Dovewing huffed and walked forward anyway.  _ I’m pushing my luck. They’ll notice me just walking by. They’re going to notice me. They- _

“Now, if you’ll just tell me something, okay?” Snowtuft spoke, still somehow holding Breezepelt up. 

“No!” Breezepelt shot back. 

_ They might not notice..? _

Dovewing padded forward until she was standing directly over Antpelt. Snowtuft and Breezepelt were still doing their thing, only a few feet away.  _ Are they blind? They seriously can’t see me? _

“...wha?” Antpelt said softly. The puddle of blood was the size of half his body. He looked paler than he had before- more see-through.  _ He’s dying a second time.  _

_ No,  _ Dovewing thought,  _ not if I have anything to say about it _ !

She hooked one arm under his torso, lifted him up, and out the other arm under, cradling the Dark Forest Hunter. Blood immediately soaked her jacket, and Dovewing noticed a distinct lack of smell.  _ He really is a ghost.  _

She glanced at Breezepelt and Snowtuft. They were still oblivious- which was good for her, at least. 

She slowly walked down the hill again and rejoined Jayfeather, who seemed to have heard the whole thing and looked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing- which would be strange enough on its own. “Let’s go,” Dovewing said. 

Jayfeather nodded. He looked down at Antpelt. “He doesn’t look good. We need to patch him up immediately.” He looked around. “We need to get him to WindClan’s camp.” Dovewing was filled with surprise. 

“ _ WindClan _ ’s camp? Why not ThunderClan- oh.” She realized what Jayfeather said. “The fences… but why were we running towards ThunderClan earlier?”

“We needed to get away, in no particular direction.” Jayfeather said. “Now let’s go before our luck runs out.”

Dovewing nodded, and the two walked around the hill, staying far from the two people fighting-  _ arguing-  _ on the top. The WindClan camp wasn’t far. If her luck with Breezepelt and Snowtuft kept up- she still couldn’t believe the two hadn’t noticed her; perhaps they were too busy fighting with each other?- then Antpelt would survive. 

She dearly hoped that he would. 

—

When Dovewing, Jayfeather, and Antpelt were fully out of sight, Breezepelt sighed. 

“Can’t believe he didn’t die after that.”

Snowtuft snorted and out Breezepelt down. “All that work for nothing. Do you know how stupid I looked, ignoring her like that?”

“We both looked stupid, idiot.” Breezepelt glared in the direction the three had gone. 

“Now we’ll have to come up with something even  _ better  _ to get rid of him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe... bet ya didn’t think Snowtuft and Breezepelt were REALLY that dumb right.....


	9. 0-7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something isn’t right with ThunderClan...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaa sorry for making y’all wait for so long but it’s finally here! A new chapter!! The deputy[+1 warrior] trio has returned!

0-7

Something’s Not Right

The first sign that something wasn’t right with ThunderClan was the camp. Namely, the camp’s lack of people. Usually, the camp was filled with kids, elders, and warriors, bustling about, fulfilling their duties, whether those were annoying your Clanmates or helping to feed your Clanmates. The way the camp looked, with deserted buildings and the sound of silence filling the air- it wasn’t right. 

The second sign that something wasn’t right was the traps. It was a fact that it was hard to catch prey in the forest with your bare hands. And so, every Clan had engineered ways to go around that problem; most had made a tradition of using traps, set all around their territories, waiting for the moment when they’d be full of prey. 

The traps were all empty. 

_ That  _ wasn’t the alarming part, no. Brambleclaw wouldn’t have blinked at the sight of empty traps- that was simply a part of living in the forest. The part that had Brambleclaw, Rowanclaw, and Ivypool gazing at the traps in confusion was the fact that they were  _ closed _ , yet  _ empty.  _

The whole ThunderClan territory was empty. The trio had heard shouts and whoops, but now Brambleclaw was suspecting they’d come from other Clans- there was nobody here. Where could they have  _ gone _ ?

“What do you think happened?” Ivypool asked. She looked so small, not at all like the brave Dark Forest spy she had been before. 

“I don’t know,” Brambleclaw admitted. “There should at least be some people here.”

Rowanclaw had said nothing during his entire walk through the territory with the two ThunderClan people. It was like he felt he wasn’t in his jurisdiction to speak- and while Brambleclaw would’ve been pleased with someone from a rival Clan letting the insiders deal with things normally, this wasn’t exactly a normal situation. 

The ThunderClan deputy raised a finger at the leaders’ den- a small building constructed to hang over the hollow, like an overseer’s tower. “Rowanclaw, do you think there’s people in there?”

The ShadowClan deputy looked at Brambleclaw with eyes that, if they could, would render Brambleclaw dead. “Do you think I’m a newborn child? Are you testing me?”

Brambleclaw frowned. “No, I’m not  _ testing  _ you. I’m asking you to at least  _ help us _ .”

“Oh, so you think I’m not being helpful? The big bad ThunderClan deputy’s trying to boss me around?” Rowanclaw said. Ivypool rolled her eyes, and Brambleclaw couldn’t blame her. 

“Look, I’m trying to keep you two  _ alive _ , thank you very much.” Brambleclaw said. “I’d appreciate it if you all pitched in.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Why’d you agree to come with us, then?” Ivypool said. She was clearly done with the two deputies arguing- apparently, once was enough. Not to mention having to listen to people argue every Gathering. It did get very annoying. 

Rowanclaw clearly didn’t care. “Who’s the deputy here?”

“Brambleclaw. We’re in ThunderClan territory, or did you forget?” Ivypool said. “It’d be really great if you  _ helped  _ us instead of actively being the most difficult person in the Clans.”

Rowanclaw didn’t retort at that; Brambleclaw felt like he’d realized his place. “Don’t worry, though, I won’t try and boss you around like you’re a warrior under me and not a rival deputy.”

The ShadowClan deputy rolled his eyes and looked away. “Hollow looks empty. Wonder why.”

“That would probably be because everyone else is worried that people are actually here, waiting to kill them,” Ivypool speculated. “I don’t think a crowded Clan camp would be the best place to be when you want to survive.”

“Well, it seems like everyone cleared out.” Brambleclaw said. “Ivypool, could you check out the traps and try to find out why they’ve all been set off? I need to talk to Rowanclaw.”

Ivypool looked a bit offended at that, like she didn’t want Brambleclaw to exclude her from anything, but didn’t say anything. She nodded and walked away, while Brambleclaw took Rowanclaw by the arm and led him to the place underneath the leader’s den- protected from the sun by the hollow. 

Rowanclaw wrestled his arm out of Brambleclaw's grip and glared at him. “What was that for, idiot?! I thought you weren’t going to boss me around.”

“I wasn’t. We just need to talk.”

“About what? Don’t make me waste my time.”

“You can’t go anywhere anyway.”

Rowanclaw huffed. “Fine. Speak away.”

Brambleclaw looked around the camp, and when he didn’t see Ivypool anywhere, looked back to Rowanclaw. “Have you seen any of the other deputies?”

“No.” Rowanclaw said bluntly. “We should just assume they’re dead.” 

Brambleclaw looked at him in shock. “Why?! We should always assume they’re  _ alive _ ! Where’s your loyalty to the Clans?”

Rowanclaw shrugged. “We’re trapped in a death game. Did you forget that? The Dark Forest is in control, and they put two deputies in the same place. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.” Brambleclaw couldn’t help but feel that he was right; still- he didn’t want to denounce his fellow deputies as dead.  _ But where could they be? _

“They didn’t just put deputies in ThunderClan,” Brambleclaw said, “Ivypool’s here, isn’t she? She’s not a deputy.”

“But she  _ was  _ in the Dark Forest, wasn’t she?”  _ Who told you that _ ? Brambleclaw thought, but didn’t say. Rowanclaw continued. “Maybe they put all of the deputies close together, and placed a guard with them to make sure they didn’t get any wild ideas.”

“Then why did they make Ivypool Prey, the most vulnerable type of player?” Brambleclaw said, raising his right wrist. “Why’d they make me a Hunter? The other Hunters can’t hurt me. I’m sure if the Moderators wanted to get rid of the deputies, for whatever reason, they wouldn’t make me invulnerable to Hunters’ attacks.” 

Rowanclaw didn’t look convinced.  _ What’ll it take, a personal meeting with the Moderators to convince you?  _ “I’d be wary around her anyway. You still have the knife that you got? It might come in handy, despite who gave it to you.”  _ I didn’t ask to be a Hunter, much less to start on a high enough rank they’d give me a knife in the beginning!  _

“I still have it. But no matter what you say, I’m not using it on Ivypool. She’s  _ innocent,  _ and that’s final.” Brambleclaw said. The ShadowClan deputy rolled his eyes, as if the  _ audacity  _ of Clanmates trusting each other was too much for him to handle.  _ ShadowClan must be one heck of a place… _

  
  


“Hey, guys, I found something!”

Rowanclaw and Brambleclaw looked towards where Ivypool’s voice had come from. “Looks like she found something.” Rowanclaw said. 

“I heard it.” Brambleclaw said, then turned to the camp entrance. Ivypool was waiting there, holding something in her hand. Brambleclaw walked forward and saw that she was holding a Hunter’s wristband-  _ a Hunter’s wristband? _

“But- you can’t just take these off.” Brambleclaw said. “I’ve tried.”

“I  _ know _ .” Ivypool said. “So why’s this one just… here? If it belonged to a Hunter, why would I come off?”

“They could’ve cut it off.” Rowanclaw said. 

“No,” Ivypool shook her head. “There’s no blood. In fact, there’s nothing on here that suggests anyone had  _ ever  _ wore this.” Brambleclaw didn’t know what she meant by that- it was covered in enough scratched to have been worn for a year. 

Ivypool sighed when she saw the deputies’ confused faces. She pointed the small screen at them and switched the display to where the player’s information  _ should’ve  _ been. Instead…

PLAYER CODE: ___

PLAYER RANK: ___

CONFIRM?

“It’s… empty.” Rowanclaw said. “Nothing’s there.”

“Yeah.” Ivypool said. “It was just lying around the camp entrance. There was nothing else there except the empty traps.”

“How come everything is empty? The camp, the traps, the wristband…. something’s wrong here. I can feel it.” Brambleclaw said. “Here- give me the wristband.” He stuck out his hand. Ivypool looked and hesitated for a second, then gave it to him. 

“Now if any Hunter wants to take this back, they can’t- because they can’t hurt me.”

Rowanclaw sighed. “Woo hoo. We figured out  _ nothing _ , and I’m  _ still  _ stuck with you for a whole week. Stop trying to make this positive.”

“We’re trying not to die, so I think this is a start.” Ivypool said. “If we figure out the mechanics of the wristband, we could potentially find out a way to take it off.”

“Or change someone’s rank.” Brambleclaw added. “The rules say higher rank Hunters get perks, right? I got a knife from the start, and I’d bet Hunters that started at the bottom didn’t get one. So, could we give ourselves perks?”

“That’s a possibility. Or we could change the time left in a Countdown,” Ivypool said. “No, that’s too far off. They probably control the Countdowns from wherever the Moderators are. Darn it.”

“Don’t worry.” Brambleclaw said. “We can still gain an advantage from this. You were a big help when you found this.”

“A big help in  _ what _ ?” Rowanclaw scoffed. “By the time you figure out anything, we’ll be surrounded by enemies. Then we’re  _ dead _ , and for what? A stupid wristband?”

Ivypool glared at him. Rowanclaw gave her an ice cold stare back. “Hey, hey!” Brambleclaw said. “Let’s not fight, please?”

“Fighting is what we could be doing- against the people running this. But we’re here in a ghost town. This is pointless!” Rowanclaw said. 

“Do you  _ want  _ a camp full of enemies?” Brambleclaw retorted. “It seems like you want to make some, at least.” He glanced at Ivypool. Rowanclaw frowned and looked at the ground. He stared at the dirt for a few seconds before sighing heavily and looking up with flaming eyes. 

“So what do we do next, oh great ThunderClan deputy?”

Brambleclaw thought for a moment.  _ What do we do? There might be things here we need, but we’re vulnerable here, when others could use the edge of the hollow as an advantage. What do we do… _

“I say we stay here for now.” Brambleclaw said with finality. Ivypool looked at him with confusion. 

“Aren’t we at a disadvantage here? What with the height difference and all?”  _ You’re right, yet… _

“We should stay here until we figure out what’s wrong with the camp,” the ThunderClan deputy said, “and it’s not like we can  _ leave  _ the territory for a week, anyway.”

Ivypool looked doubtful, but she didn’t say anything. She looked like she was thinking of ways to escape should there actually  _ be  _ Hunters in the territory. Rowanclaw, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to take his chances leaping over the fence. Brambleclaw sighed and started to walk towards the healer’s den. 

He stepped inside and looked at the shelves. They were… not looking good. It seemed like people  _ had  _ been here, but they’d all had the same idea: take the supplies and run. Unfortunately, it seemed like they all ran into the shelves.  _ So the healer’s den won’t be of any help.  _

He heard Ivypool and Rowanclaw arguing on whether or not they should check the leader’s den before the warriors’ dens. He heard insults such as ‘ShadowClan fox’ and ‘ThunderClan control freak’ being thrown around like spears.  _ When will our team learn how to be a team? Never? _

Brambleclaw bypassed the arguing people and walked out of camp, going to inspect the traps another time.  _ I’ll do it more closely. Surely I can find something out, right? Staying here isn’t a mistake? _

He stopped at one of the traps that lay right outside the camp entrance. Empty, and closed. Like it had tried to capture invisible prey.  _ What’s going on here? How come it seems like everything was made to look off?  _ Brambleclaw brushed his fingers against the edge- something all kids had been told not to do, but something he couldn’t help but do now.  _ As if this will help me at all… _

Then he felt something. 

It was a small piece of a stick. It was caught in between the teeth of the trap. Back when he was still an apprentice, Brambleclaw remembered, he would go around and set off traps using sticks. It was a game among apprentices- whoever got the most traps without getting caught won.  _ We got scolded for closing traps without putting prey in them. It was an apprentice game. Nobody who’d been an apprentice for over a month played the game.  _

So why did it look like somebody had played it?

Brambleclaw walked over to another trap. He looked closely and found another piece of stick.  _ Have all of the traps been set off like this?  _

He checked every single trap that was near the camp. Sure enough, some evidence of sticks being used was in every one.  _ What in the name of StarClan happened here? _

He looked towards the sky. It was beginning to darken- the first day was ending.  _ Six to go.  _

Somehow, the stars had seemed paler ever since the Dark Forest had won.  _ Now that I think about it… StarClan hasn’t spoken to any of us. I think it’s safe to assume they haven’t spoken to anyone else.  _

Brambleclaw strained his eyes to see the stars. They were there, but they seemed distant. The ThunderClan deputy gave them one last plea before returning to the camp. 

_ Please, StarClan, tell me if this is the right choice… _


End file.
